LORD Simpson, the under-pressure boss of embattled telecom group Marconi, was yesterday given a vote of confidence from the company's chairman emeritus, Lord Weinstock.

LORD Simpson, the under-pressure boss of embattled telecom group Marconi, was yesterday given a vote of confidence from the company's chairman emeritus, Lord Weinstock.

Lord Weinstock, who built Marconi - the then General Electric Company - into a powerful conglomerate before Lord Simpson took over in 1996, said he wanted to make clear his support for Lord Simpson's decision to remain as chief executive.

The comments follow a dramatic week for Marconi, which saw shares collapse after it suspended trading in advance of issuing a massive profits warning and announcing 4,000 job cuts.

The group lost half its value in one day, and by the close of play last week it ended at just 104.5p, a far cry from a high of #12.50 last year.

On Friday it emerged Lord Simpson's deputy, John Mayo, would leave the firm, while Lord Simpson has agreed to stay on for the "foreseeable future".

Lord Simpson had originally been due to step down as chief executive at the company's AGM on July 18, when Mr Mayo was to take over.

In a statement, Lord Weinstock said: "I want to make clear my support for Lord Simpson's proper decision in the difficult current situation to continue as chief executive and will vote in favour of his re-election at the Marconi AGM on July 18.

"I would also like to express my confidence in the quality of the new technologies developed by Marconi.

"It is my view that they will win an impressive share of the global market when the current downturn ends, as it surely will."